Currency detectors



Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN GURRENGY DETECTORS 18 Sheets-Sheet l NQM Wm an Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 4 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS 18 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 v allal 1| I 1r- |F||| ||LT l h'l l l l'blllllllllllllt||4| llIl||ll||||.l|

Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS 18 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS l8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 m II'II'II'III/ I'I'lllllll'ldll 11:4 'IIIIIIIIIIII 18 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 18 Sheets-Sheet '7 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS 18 Sheets-Sheet 8 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 Eh Pm Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS 18 Sheets-Sheet 9 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS 18 Sheets-Sheet 10 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 18 Sheets-Sheet 11 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 18 Sheets-Sheet 12 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN 3,236,377

CURRENCY DETECTORS Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 CURRENCY DETECTORS Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 l8 Sheets-Sheet 14 AAAA 9f] 24 me my; 290

Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN CURRENCY DETECTORS l8 Sheets-Sheet 15 Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN 3,236,377

CURRENGY DETECTORS Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 18 Sheets-Sheet 16 Feb. 22, 1966 w. s. HERMANN 3,236,377

CURRENCY DETECTORS Original Filed Jan. 24, 1961 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 United States Patent Office Patented Feb. 22, 1966 3,236,377 CURRENCY DETECTORS William S. Hermann, Berkeley, Mo., assignor to National Rejectors, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Original application Jan. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 84,643, now Patent No. 3,180,491, dated Apr. 27, 1965. Divided and this application Aug. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 301,486

7 Claims. (Cl. 209-1116) This application is a division of Donald M. Danko et al. application Serial No. 84,643 for Currency Detectors which was filed January 24, 1961, now Patent No. 3,- 180,491.

This invention relates to improvements in currency detectors. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in methods and apparatus for identifying authentic paper currency.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for identifying authentic paper currency.

Each bill of the United States of America has one face thereof engraved with magnetic ink and has the other face thereof engraved with non-magnetic ink. As disclosed by the commonly assigned Smith et al. application Serial No. 849,066, for Currency Detectors which was filed on October 27, 1959, now abandoned, it is possible to move the magnetic face of an inserted bill past a magnetic head at a uniform rate of speed and thereby generate voltage variations which can be used to determine whether that bill is authentic or spurious. If no voltage variations are generated, the bill will be rejected. If the amplitudes of the voltage variations are too small, the bill will be rejected. If the amplitudes of the voltage variations are too large, the bill will be rejected. If too few voltage variations are generated, the bill will be rejected. Further, if the repetition rate of the voltage variations due to the inserted bill differs appreciably from the repetition rate of the voltage variations due to an authentic bill, the inserted bill will be rejected. As a result, currency detectors which move the magnetic face of a bill past a magnetic head at a uniform rate of speed, and thereby generate voltage variations which can be used to determine whether that bill is authentic or spurious, can effectively determine whether an inserted bill is authentic or spurious.

In the said Smith et al. application, the magnetic head engages the background of the portrait of the inserted bill and coacts with the vertical lines of that background to generate the required voltage variations. Where the spacings of the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of bills differ materially, it is possible to use the voltage variations to differentiate between bills of different denominations as well as to differentiate between authentic and spurious bills. For example, the spacings of the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of one dollar bills differ materially from the spacings of the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of five dollar bills, and hence it is easy to use the voltage variations to differentiate between one dollar bills and five dollar bills. However, where the spacings of the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of bills of different denomination do not differ materially, it is not practical to use the voltage variations to differentiate between those bills. Yet it would be desirable to be able to differentiate between bills of different denominations which have portrait backgrounds wherein the spacings of the vertical lines are similar. The present invention provided a currency detector that is able to differentiate between bills of different denominations which have portrait backgrounds wherein the spacings of the vertical lines are similar; and it does so by providing a currency detector which optically senses distinctive portions of the inserted bill. The currency detector provided by the present invention will thus provide magnetic sensing plus optical sensing of inserted bills. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a currency detector which provides magnetic sensing plus optical sensing of inserted bills.

The currency detector provided by the present invention magnetically senses the magnetic face of an inserted bill and optically senses the non-magnetic face of that bill. As a result, for a bill to be accepted, each of the faces thereof must conform to the corresponding face of an authentic bill. As a result, if a spurious bill could be made so one face thereof closely simulated the corresponding face of an authentic bill, that spurious bill would be detected and rejected by the currency detector provided by the present invention. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a currency detector that magnetically senses the magnetic face of an inserted bill and optically senses the non-magnetic face of that bill.

The currency detector provided by the present invention accomplishes both its magnetic sensing and its optical sensing within a relatively short, predetermined period of time; and that period of time is shorter than the period of time which a bill requires to move past the magnetic sensing and the optical sensing systems. If the required signal is not received from the magnetic sensing system within that short period of time, and if the required signal is not received from the optical sensing system within that short period of time, the bill will be rejected. This is desirable because it reduces the likelihood that a spurious bill could, by moving past the magnetic sensing and the optical sensing systems and then back again, produce signals which would enable that bill to be accepted. As a result, the currency detector provided by the present invention provides a high degree of protection against the acceptance of spurious bills. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a currency detector which accomplishes its magnetic sensing and its optical sensing within a relatively short, predetermined period of time.

The non-magnetic faces of bills of the United States of America have alternating white and green areas, and

the spacings of these areas are distinctively different on bills of different denominations. The currency detector provided by the present invention utilizes an optical sensing system that can respond to those distinctively different spacings to identify bills of a desired denomination. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a currency detector which utilizes an optical sensing system that can respond to the spacings between the alternating white and green areas on the non-magnetic faces of bills to identify and accept such bills.

The spacings of the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of two dollar bills are so similar to the spacings of the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of some other bills that it is not practical to use the vertical lines in the backgrounds of two dollar bills to generate voltage variations that could differentiate two dollar bills from those other bills. Yet it would be desirable to provide a currency detector that could identify and accept two dollar bills. The present invention provides such a cur rency detector, and that currency detector magnetically senses the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of two dollar bills to obtain one accept signal and senses the spacings between predetermined green areas on the non-magnetic faces of those bills to obtain a second accept signal; and when both accept signals are received it accepts those bills. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a currency detector that magnetically senses the vertical lines in the portrait backgrounds of two dollar bills to obtain one accept signal and senses the spacings between predetermined green areas on the non-magnetic faces of those bills to obtain a second accept signal.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description, several preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown and described but it is to be understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustration only and do not limit the invention and that the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a broken, plan view of one embodiment of bill-transporting device that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a broken, side elevational view of the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a broken, sectional view through the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 33 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a few of the components of FIG. 3, it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 3-3 in FIG. 1, and it shows the shaft-carrying bracket of FIG. 3'in lowered position,

FIG. 5 is a broken, sectional view through the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 55 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view, on a very large scale, through the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 6-6 in FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the lower platen and associated parts used in the embodiment of billtransporting device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the platen and associated parts shown in FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a sectional view through the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 9-9 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 10 is a sectional view through the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the broken plane indicated by the line 1tl10 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 11 is a plan View, on an enlarged scale, through the bracket which holds the mounting for the magnetic head of the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 12 is a sectional View, on a still larger scale, through the bracket of FIG. 11, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 1212 in FIG. 11,

FIG. 13 is an elevational view of the rear plate of the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 14 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, through part of the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 14-14 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 15 is a sectional view, on the scale of FIG. 14, through another part of the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 1515 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of a Jshaped bracket used in the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 17 is a partially-sectioned side view of the platens of the embodiment of bill-transporting device shown in FIG. 1 after those platens have been rotated one hundred and eighty degrees about a vertical axis from the position shown by FIG. 2, and it shows the switches mounted on those platens,

FIG. 18 is a front elevational view of the front plate of the bill-transporting device of FIG. 1 as it appears when t e ill-sup ortin lat o m is emoved.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of the power supply used with the embodiment of bill-transporting device of FIG. 1,

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of the portion of the circuit of the embodiment of bill-transporting device of FIG. 1 which includes the motor, the solenoids and the bill-operated switches,

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of the electronic circuit for the magnetic sensing system used in the embodiment of hill-transporting device of FIG. 1,

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of the portion of the circuit of the embodiment of bill-transporting device of FIG. 1 which includes the relays,

FIG. 23 shows the connections between the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 1922,

FIG. 24 is a schematic elevation-a1 view of the lamp and light-sensitive element used in the bill-transporting device of FIG. 1 and of a second lamp and of a second light-sensitive element mounted adjacent the first said lamp and light-sensitive element,

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram of an electronic circuit that is usable with one of the lamps and one of the lightsensitive elements shown in FIG. 24,

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of an electronic circuit that is usable with the second lamp and the second lightsensitive element of FIG. 24,

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram of a substitute for a portion of the electronic circuit of FIG. 25,

FIG. 28 shows the wave form that is supplied by the circuits of FIGS. 25 and 26 to fire the thyratron of FIG. 25,

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram of an electronic circuit that is usable with the two lamps and the two lightsensitive elements shown in FIG. 24,

FIG. 30 is a broken plan view of part of the upper platen of the bill-transporting device of the present invention as that device is modified to accommodate three lamps and three light-sensitive elements, and

FIG. 31 is a modification of part of the circuit of FIG. 25.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 30 denotes a base for one embodiment of currency identification device that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention. That base is generally rectangular in plan, and it has a stiffening flange that extends downwardly from the sides and ends thereof. That base has a large opening 31 therein, and that opening begins at a point about one third of the way toward the rear of that base, and that opening extends almost all the way to the rear of that base.

The numeral 32 denotes a vertically-directed plate which has a horizontally-directed flange at the bottom thereof; and that flange serves as a foot. As indicated particularly by FIG. 2, the foot of the plate 32 is secured to the base 30 adjacent the front edge of that base. A plate 34 of U-shaped configuration is disposed above the plate 32, and that plate lies in the same plane as the lower plate 32. The closed end of the U-shaped plate 34 rests on the top of the plate 32, and the arms of that plate project upwardly from the plate 32. A front plate 36 overlies the front face of the plate 34, and also projects downwardly beyond the bottom of that plate to overlie the front portion of the upper part of the plate 32. A horizontally-directed opening 38 is formed in the plate 36, and that opening is wide enough to accommod'ate a two dollar bill when that bill is inserted lengthwise through that opening. Fasteners 40, shown in theform of machine screws, pass through openings adjacent the bottom of the front plate 36 and seat in threaded openings adjacent the upper end of the plate 32.

The numeral 42 denotes the rear plate for the embodimerit of currency identification device shown by FIG. 1, and that plate has a horizontally-directed flange which acts as a foot. As indicated particularly by FIG. 2, the flange on the plate 42 is secured to the top of the base 

1. A DEVICE FOR DETECTING AUTHENTIC CURRENCY WHICH HAS TWO SPACED-APART LIGHT-DARK INTERFACES THEREON COMPRISING A LIGHT-SENSITVE ELEMENT CAPABLE OF COACTING WITH THE SHARP CHANGES IN LIGHT RECEIVED BY IT FROM THE AREAS IMMEDIATELY IN ADVANCE OF AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING ONE LIGHT-DARK INTERFACE ON A BILL MOVING RELATIVE TO IT TO PRODUCE A VALIDATING SIGNAL, A SECOND LIGHT-SENSITVE ELEMENT CAPABLE OF COACTING WITH THE SHARP CHANGES IN LIGHT RECEIVED BY IT FROM THE AREA IMMEDIATELY IN ADVANCE OF AND IMMEDIATEDLY FOLLOWING A SECOND LIGHT-DARK INTERFACE ON THE BILL AS THE BILL MOVES RELATIVE TO IT TO PRODUCE A SECOND VALIODATING SIGNAL, A SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION FOR SAID BILL, MEANS PROVIDING RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID BILL AND SAID LIGHT-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS, SAID MEANS DISPOSING SAID BILL ADJACENT BOTH OF SAID LIGHT-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS AT THE SAME TIME BOTH SO LIGHT FROM SAID BILL SIMULTANEOUSLY STRIKES BOTH OF SAID LIGHT-SENSITIVE-ELEMENTS, AND AN ACCEPT MECHANISM CAPABLE OF RECEIVING SAID VALIDATING SIGNALS, SAID ACCEPT MECHANISM BEING CAPAABLE OF EFFECTING THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE BILL WHENEVER SAID VALIDATING SUGNALS ARE COINCIDENTALLY APPLIED TO SAID ACCEPT MECHANISM, SAID SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION FOR SAID BILL PROVIDING LIGHT FOR EACH ACCEPTABLE BOLL FOR A PERIOD OF TIME WHICH IS LONG ENOUGH TO ENABLE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY IN ADVANCE OF THE FIRST SAID INTERFACE ON SAID BILL AND THE AREA IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE FIRST SAID INTERFACE ON SAID BILL TO SUCCESSIVELY AND SHARPLY CHANGE THE LIGHT WHICH THE FIRST SAID LIGHT-SENSITIVE ELEMENT RECEIVES FROM SAID BILL AND WHICH ALSO IS LONG ENOUGH TO ENABLE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY IN ADVANCE OF SAID SECOND INTERFACE ON SAID BILL AND THE AREA IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING SAID SECOND INTERFACE ON SAID BILL TO SUCCESSIVELY AND SHARPLY CHANGE THE LIGHT WHICH SAID SECOND LIGHT-SENSITIVE ELEMENT RECEIVES FROM SAID BILL. 